Arqiva Wins £150m Government Rural Mobile Coverage Contract

Arqiva has won a £150 million contract to improve mobile services in rural areas where there is no commercial case to do so, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has announced.

Up to 60,000 premises and sections of road will be covered as part of the Mobile Infrastructure Project (MIP), which it is claimed will help connect rural communities, create local jobs and contribute to national growth.

Arqiva will be responsible for the full scale mobile network rollout, including site acquisition and the deployment of infrastructure and equipment. The firm will  announce which locations will benefit from the scheme  this summer.

Rural mobile coverage

“We’re excited to be working with the government and mobile operators on this important initiative, “said Nicolas Ott, managing director of government, mobile and enterprise at Arqiva. “By investing in mobile infrastructure, the government can help bridge the social and technological divides created in areas where commercial service is not economical, and we’re proud to be part of this process.

“MIP perfectly fits within our strategy of creating a range of platforms – cellular, Wi-Fi and small cells – that provide mobile connectivity to all and support a thriving digital economy in the UK.”

MIP forms part of the government’s target of having the best broadband in Europe by 2015, alongside other initiatives such as the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) and super-connected cities schemes.

“Arqiva’s appointment today is great news for rural communities throughout the UK, who stand to benefit enormously from this £150m project to improve mobile phone coverage,” said Ed Vaizey, culture minister. “Good mobile connectivity is becomingly increasingly important and it is crucial that businesses and individuals are not left struggling with poor and intermittent coverage.”

MIP problems

MIP was first announced by Chancellor George Osborne in 2011, but suffered a blow last year when UK operator Three said it would not participate because it would not be able to offer a good service with the spectrum it had at the time.

It said that it would wait to see whether it could secure 800MHz bandwidth at the recent Ofcom 4G spectrum auction before committing to the project. It did win 10MHz of the valuable airwaves at the auction, so its participation is possible.

The government hopes that the rollout of 4G will improve so called rural ‘not-spots’. O2 won two 10MHz chunks of 800MHz spectrum at the auction, with one requiring it to provide a mobile broadband service to 98 percent of the UK population and at least 95 percent of the populations of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

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